Almost every day, when I crawl into bed, I reach for my notebook and pen to write about my day. It doesn't matter if I'm tired or cranky; I make myself put my pen to the paper. Sometimes, I write pages and pages and my hand hurts by the time I'm done. Other days, all my entry reads is "Very very tired... but had a good day."



I've kept a journal ever since I was given a Cinderella notebook in the first grade. However, routine is not my strong suit, and there would often be weeks or months of gaping holes between entries.

In middle school, I began to take journaling more seriously. Still, I didn't write every day. If someone were to read my journals from back then, they would assume I was miserable all the time. And while there is some truth to that (was eighth grade good to anyone?), I also had some amazing friends and life-shaping experiences that I simply never bothered to record, because I treated my journal as just somewhere to rant about how much it sucked to be thirteen.

In my junior year of high school, inspired by people on Tumblr such as Caitlin Hazell, I bought a Moleskine and began to keep an art journal. I am not a talented illustrator or painter - but this was where my breakthrough came. The Moleskine I bought was the perfect size - not too big as to be intimidating, but not too small as to limit what I could do. I'm currently on my third one, and while I don't fill them up as quickly as dedicated artists do, I'm okay with that.


 I carry my notebook almost everywhere, and try to get something down in it at least a few times a week. I tend to write or draw on one side of the paper, and collage on the other. By the time I have reached the last page, my Moleskines are bulging and bursting. I love to flip through them and see how I've evolved. I have stuck in mementos, tickets, pictures, film negatives, Humans of New York Posts, perfume samples, notes from friends, and I've recorded lists on lists on lists, plenty of mediocre poetry, a couple of drawings of people I was infatuated with, and a lot of rap lyrics. I learned not to limit myself with my art journal.


In the past year, though, I have taken up another challenge with journalling. I began to write every day. Whilst I love my Moleskine journal, I didn't want to sully the aesthetics of it with several pages of cramped handwriting every time I felt an emotion. Also, I'm someone who tends to be a tad neurotic, and I thought taking time to process my day could help with that. Although I haven't journalled every damn day in 2017 - I fell off the track for a couple of weeks in April - I am proud to say I've written more days than not. I wouldn't say that much of what I've written has been profound or meaningful. But by giving myself a private, judgement-free zone to express my emotions and think about my life, I feel as if I have become more thoughtful, mature, and independent. Of course, when something serious happens, I still call my best friend - but by giving myself an opportunity to write and reflect on my own life and decisions, I've become better equipped to deal with them.


I know I'm not alone in this; people have kept diaries for thousands of years. You can buy copies of Kurt Cobain's, Franz Kafka's, and George Washington's diaries.... but don't think you have to be intellectual or important to keep a journal. The only requirement is to be a person with thoughts and feelings, who wants to understand themselves and the world a little better. So carve out some time in your day, release yourself from any judgement or pressure, and write. You'll feel the difference.

Feel free to drop a comment below if you journal, to say what you've gained from it or what your personal method is!